The Mormon Candidate - a Novel (42 page)

“
Are you al
l
right?”

“
F
ine.”

“
Thank God!
I’m going to kill you!”

“
Join the club.”

“Oh, no!”

“It’s okay. I’m safe now.
You know I would’ve called
earlier
if I could.”

She
choked up
. “I’m still…
angry
.
”

“Listen to me. There’s no time to explain
, but the
business with the Mormon
s
could get
ugly.
”

“
Already has
.”

He paused. “What happened?”

“They broke in
to
our
place
.
”

“Were you—”

“I was at work.”

“Pack up and go to Fran
’s
. Now!”

“I’m already there
.”

“Good.
She’ll keep it hush
ed
. Last thing I need now is a police investigation. I’ll be the only one they’ll prosecute. No one
will look into the Mormons’ acti
ons
until
I have
hard
evidence
.
”

“You can explain—”

“Explain my ta
mpering with the scene of an accident? Removing victim’s belonging
s
? Keeping evidence from law authorities?
”

“Fran could help.”

“Yes, with one thing.
Tell her I asked that she check
out Inspector Porter, look at
his
record, see if anything smells bad. But nothing else. I don’t want her to
risk
her job.”

“
Why don’t you tell her.
Are you
on your way
here
?”

“
No. I can’t
.
Not yet.
”

“
W
hen?”

“
I’m not
sure.
It might be a few days before I can contact you again.
”

“
If you stop investigating,
wouldn’t
t
hey leave us alone
?
”

“Maybe.”

“Then drop it! Come home!”

“I can’t.”

“Why?
”

He was silent for a long moment. “Please don’t ask me that. Fran will keep you safe until it’s over. I love you.”

The line went dead
.

When Keera got out of the bathroom, she found
Fran
waiting in the living room,
wrapped in a
blanket
. “Was it Ben?
Is he okay?
”

Keera dropped on the sofa. “
He’s
fine
, so far.
”

“What did he say?”

“Actually, he asked that you check out Inspector Porter, look into his record, sniff around for any suspicious stuff.”

“I can’t do that
,
” Fran said. “He’s a
n
officer in the
s
tate
p
olice. There’s nothing suspicious about him. And I told Ben to leave the Mormons alone—
t
his investigation stinks of religious persecution.”

“He’s not imagining,” Keera said. “They did break into our house.”

“They
did
?
How do you know
who did it
?
Ben’s
investigations
have
irritated a lot of people. Maybe it’s someone else he
’
s
crossed? Could be totally unrelated to this investigation. Remember the death threats he received when he was chasing the bridge contractor?”

“
Oh, yeah
.
” Keera
groaned.
“
He didn’t give up, a
nd h
e’s not dropping th
is
investigation
either,
no matter what
I say
.
I feel so
stuck!”

“You’re
not stuck,” Fran said. “It’s your choice.”

“Easier said than done.
”

“You got the power. It’s your life, isn’t it?”

“You think?
I was in college when we started going out, and look at me now, graduating me
d school in six months
.
”
Keera
held forth her naked fingers
.
“
Do you see a ring?
”

“Set a deadline
and
tell
him
this is it
—propose or
get out.
”

“
Why should I stoop
to arm twisting
?
” Keera pulled the blanket over her legs. “
I don’t want to get a ring by ultimatum.
”

“Does it matter?”

“To me it does. I want him to propose because he wants to, not because he has to.”

“He’s a man. They don’t know what they want or what’s good for them. They need to be manipulated. Like children.
Or dogs.
”

Keera laughed. “You’re not objective.”

“On the contrary.” Fran grinned. “I’ve tried both. Have you?”

“Ha.”

“I can introduce you to a lovely girl. You might fall in love
.
”

“I’m already in love.
And I know he loves me too.
”

“But not enough
to marry you?
”

“Enough. He
really
does
love me to death
. But he’s got some kind of a
block, like he’s afraid of
marriage
.”

“Afraid?” Fran raised her eyebrows. “Ben?”

“Yes. I
think i
t’s about his
dad. They rarely
talk about
the man
,
Ben
and his mom, but I can read between the lines, see their pain. It’s like they’ve never gotten over the loss, both of them.
Ben carries his dad’s photo in his wallet, you know?”

Fran shook her head. “It’s sad, but what’s the relevancy? Your clock is ticking, not his.”

“But t
hat’s wh
y
Ben is
afraid—not of being married to me,
not of commitment,
but of becoming a
father
.”

“Afraid of doing the same thing?
”

“That’s right. Of having a son and then
—
”

“
Everybody’s carrying some painful
baggage
. If you make Ben feel the pain of
your
absence, he’ll
fear losing you even more than
he fears
hurting
his future kids
.”

“
No.
I’m not going to manipulate him. If
I leave
Ben
, it will
be
without notice
, a
nd
I’ll
never see him again—no
pressure,
no
negotiations, no
second chances.
”

“Just like that?”

“
I’m too crazy about him
. If I start down that road, I’ll
go back and forth
like a yo-yo
.
No. I
’d
rather suffer once and be done.
”

“Then set a deadline for yourself.”

“I already have.”
Keera’s tears were flowing again. “But now he’s
out there, risking his life for
a stupid news story
, which readers will forget
the next day
.
”

“That’s his choice
,” Fran said. “
You
should
make yours.”

“
How can I
leave him while he’s gone?”

“Why not?”

Porter sat in his unmarked
Ford
in the back of the parking lot at
a
Lutheran
c
hurch
in Rockville
.
The clock was approaching midnight
. He tilted the bottle of
apple juice
all the way up
, but n
othing came out. Radio communications crackled back and forth between dispatchers and cruisers all over northeast Maryland, mostly traffic stops exacerbated by alcohol or st
upidity, domestic violence incidents
in areas not covered by local police and, every hour or so, a prostitution bust along the state highways and rest stops. Not a single mention of a motorcycle, let alone a
black-and-
yellow BMW
.
Ben Teller had disappeared without a trace.

The bang on his window made
Porter
reach for
his sidearm, but he relaxed when
he saw the white figure seated on the white motorcycle. It appeared out of nowhere—the only entrance into the parking lot was straight ahead, and the lamps were off.

He lowered the window. “How did you get here?”

The
Ghost turned off the Ducati motor and
leaned closer until the helmet almost touched the top of the window
, watching Porter through the
dark
face
shield, saying nothing.

“You lost him?”

The
Ghost
nodded.

“I was told you’re the best.”

No response.

“Have you put a trace on
the girlfriend’s
car
at least?”

A nod
.

“What about the
ir place
? Did you search it?”

A
nother
nod.

“No floppy disk?”

Head shake.

“Did you find anything else?”

The white glove reached into the jacket, pulled out something, and handed it to Porter.
It was a passport
.

Porter
opened it and saw Ben
Teller
’s photo.
“That’s a relief
.
Now we only have to
hunt down the prick
within the
continental
United States.
Congratulations.
”

The
Ghost
held out a hand.

“Right.” Porter
collected
a bundle of cash and a
texting
pager
from the passenger seat and handed them over
.
“The
pager
is
a prepaid piece
.
I don’t think it’s traceable, but only t
urn it on
to check for messages
every hour or so
.
”

The
Ghost
pocketed the money
and the pager.

“
The
black
bitch
is the key. I have a plan. We’ll
double up in a pi
ncer
to squeeze her bad enough
to draw
Teller
out of hiding.
Then you’ll arrange
a
n accident
, but do it somewhere isolated, so you can remove and destroy his iPhone, camera, and anything else he carries that could hold data. If an accident is
impractical, make it look like a robbery
gone bad.
And finish him off
this time
.
I don’t want
Teller
climbing out of a gorge again
, okay
?”